Spain: linesman gets bloodied after hitting camera – 02/27/2024 – The World Is a Ball

In Formula 1, the red flag means interruption of the race, generally due to the occurrence of a more serious accident that leaves the track without ideal safety conditions.

In football, until the 1980s, there was also a red flag, which was held by one of the referee’s assistants, number 1, who would replace the referee in case of injury. The other, number 2, carried a yellow one.

After that, it was determined that the fourth referee would assume duties on the field when the main referee was unable to continue, and the field assistants, commonly called flags or linesmen, both began to use instruments that were divided into red and yellow colors. It’s like that to this day.

In the most recent round of the Spanish Championship, there was an accident that had a “red flag” that resulted in the game being stopped, even though it had nothing to do with F1.

In the 12th minute of the first half, in Seville, Argentine striker Chimy Ávila received a ball and touched it past the goalkeeper to make Betis 1 x 0 Athletic Bilbao.

On the side of the field, assistant Guadalupe Porras Ayuso, without noticing any irregularity in the play (such as an offside), turned to start her run towards the center of the field, as is customary on these occasions.

Then came the impact. A cameraman was almost inside the field, right next to Guadalupe, and her head collided violently with the film camera.

There was a fall and it was found, during treatment, that the flag had a red face, covered in blood, due to a cut – on the forehead or temple – resulting from the collision. Very strong images.

The match had to be interrupted until doctors from both clubs determined that Guadalupe, 37, who became unconscious, was in no condition to continue.

She left the stadium on a stretcher and was taken by ambulance to a hospital for further recovery. The fourth referee took her place and the match could be restarted and concluded.

The incident generated widespread outrage, especially on social media, as it was not acceptable for the cameraman to be where he was, in the linesman’s work area.

The risk of an accident was, therefore, very high, and all it took was one carelessness for it to happen – as it happened, to the misfortune of Guadalupe.

It is known that television plays an extremely important role in football and sports in general, because without it, those who do not go to the stadium have no way of following the event.

Furthermore, the broadcasters that broadcast the championships pay large sums (millions of euros, in the case of Europe) to have this right, and what is paid is a significant portion of what the clubs count on to close their respective budgets.

In this context, it is perfectly acceptable, and even desirable, for TV to offer as many cameras as possible, so that everyone has access to the most different angles of the games. The more, the better. More quality, more detail.

With one however. An essential however. That these cameras pose zero danger to game participants: athletes, technical committees, refereeing team, ball boys, fans.

The Betis 3 x 1 Athletic Bilbao summary, made by referee Guillermo Cuadra, shows that this did not happen and, worse, that, even after what happened with Guadalupe, the cameraman continued to be in an undue area.

This is what Cuadra wrote:

“The moment this happened [o acidente com a bandeirinha], I told the cameraman to leave the area immediately, as he was putting the physical integrity of the participants in danger. In this case it was with the assistant, but he was also positioned on the work area [de aquecimento] of the players.”

“Later, in the second half, the cameraman appeared again in the same area, and on one occasion (…) I realized that he was disturbing the players and physical trainers who were doing warm-up exercises.”

It seems unbelievable, less than an hour after the collision that killed Guadalupe, that security guards were not instructed to take action to prevent a similar problem from happening. It wasn’t another day, it wasn’t another game. Everything was recent.

Liabilities, in addition to the security guards, were the referee, the representatives of LaLiga (organizer of the championship), the coaches, their staff and the players, who, noticing that the TV professional –he was clueless and/or his bosses were clueless– continued circulating there, they did nothing.

They should speak out indignantly, stop the game, mobilize until the citizen limps and finally gets out of there.

Tremendous lack of common sense and unmeasured foolishness. No respect for the Guadalupe flag (who could have had an eye injury, lost teeth), at that moment relegated to a hospital bed.

Making a new allusion to F1, a black flag, that of disqualification (in this case, as people), must be given to all of them. It’s what they deserve.